I think only the top one of those was actually a billion. Sum of payments is poor financial math, and I really wish news agencies would grow some standards and not use them in the headlines.
it's a typical HN Gotcha of which I myself am often guilty, given hundreds of different chances, and one of those chances can make you a billionaire, then you can become a billionaire by betting on hundreds of different chances - but of course horse race gambling doesn't give you that billion in one shot chance.
on edit - well I guess it technically does it give it, but at such a high rate of investment it isn't really that worthwhile either. The point about the lottery is that a single ticket which costs little can return a billion. A horse race that returned a billion probably needs at least a 100 million to be bet, which is probably not even possible.
it sounds to me like you think I've said something about the likelihood of a working system, and also that you think I am somehow in opposition to your second sentence, and require setting straight on the matter?
I admit I am at a loss how either of these suppositions could actually come to be, based on what I wrote, so I suppose I am mistaken.
https://www.nytimes.com/article/lottery-jackpot-record-power...